His Name Was Edward
by Ruby01
Summary: Bella recalls the day she met Edward Masen - a day that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Rated M for violence. AH. OOC. DARKWARD.
1. Chapter 1

**His Name Was Edward**

**Summary: Bella recalls the day she met Edward Masen - a day that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Rated M for violence. AH. OOC. DARKWARD**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns**_**Twilight**_** and all its characters.**

**I'd like to thank my super-awesome beta, Mari (booty492). You rock!**

_**WARNING**_**: If the subject of a psychotic, insane Edward is disturbing to you, then this story is not for you. If you are expecting a HEA, then you may want to read something else.**

**Note: While this story does take place on Halloween, it's not a Halloween story. Unless you want it to be.**

OoO

I am troubled

Immeasurably

By your eyes

I am struck

By the feather of your soft

Reply

The sound of glass

Speaks quick

Disdain

And conceals

What your eyes fight

To explain

- Jim Morrison

OoO

"Auntie B!" Rang an enthusiastic voice from the front door, just before it slammed shut.

"In here sweets!" Bella called from the kitchen.

"It smells like Halloween threw up in here - but in a good way. What are you making?"

Bella smiled at her niece's interesting observation. "I roasted pumpkin seeds, and now I'm making pumpkin cookies. How was school?" Judging by the hopeful glint she recognized in her eyes, she guessed it was a good one.

"It was awesome! I'm so glad it's Friday! Amanda's throwing a Halloween party tonight, and Monday, _on_Halloween, a bunch of us are going trick-or-treating!"

"Aren't you a little old for trick-or-treating?"

"You're never too old for candy, Auntie B." She said this as if it stating the obvious and Bella simply nodded, for there was no disputing that.

"Oh, and six people dressed up as Father Death. _Six!_ I tried explaining to a couple of people that it was in fact called Father Death, not The Scream Costume, and was only dubbed said costume after the movie came out, but they were totally stupid. Not Ryan, though..." Bella couldn't help but notice that her eyes lit up when she said his name. It made her smile. "He knew exactly what I was talking about. He thought it was hilarious when I hit Chad on the head with my Tootsie Roll Pop and told him that he had a stupidity leak."

They both giggled as they munched on pumpkin seeds. At that moment, Bella decided that she was going to watch _Scream_tonight. Her favorite part was watching Drew Barrymore hanging lifeless from the tree. Not that she had anything against Drew Barrymore - she just thought it was awesome, and was made even better watching it in the dark. Alone.

Their giggles died down and the atmosphere suddenly seemed thick. "Aunt Bella?" She quickly glanced at her niece, for she rarely called her Bella. She figured it must be serious but it was almost difficult to take her seriously when she was dressed as Wonder Woman. Almost.

"What's up Samantha? Is everything alright?" Samantha sat down at the table. Bella poured two glasses of milk, grabbed a plate of cookies, and followed suit.

"Um, I got to school early today, 'cause Ryan asked me if I could help him with his Trig homework, so being the good student and friend that I am, I of course said yes." She beamed.

"Of course." Bella agreed with a smile, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Well, we finished before school started and Ryan had to go out to his car for something. I was on my way to my locker and Mrs. Lewis had her arms _full_of Halloween shit." She shifted her eyes over to Bella, who gave her a disapproving look. "Um, I mean _stuff_."

"Uh huh. Sure you did."

"Anyways, this giant tombstone was about to fall out of her arms, but I was able to catch it before its impending death... what do you suppose one would put on a tombstone's tombstone?" Samantha put her finger to her chin and appeared to be deep in thought.

"I swear you really are your father's daughter," Bella laughed, "not that I'm not entertained, but does this story have a point...?"

"Yeah, sorry. So, when I caught the tombstone, she seemed eternally grateful and asked if I could take it to the teacher's lounge for her. I said 'no problem'." She raised her hand in the air and pointed at her head. "Good student."

Bella took a bite of her cookie, followed by a drink of milk. "So, you go to the teacher's lounge..." She's used to her niece's ADD tendencies; it reminds her of her own self.

"I go to the teacher's lounge and the door is kinda propped open but before I go inside, I get a text from Ryan. Now, I wouldn't really call it _eavesdropping_, but while I'm reading my text, I overhear two teacher's talking inside; Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Crowley."

Bella's blood suddenly ran cold and she got up to set her empty glass in the sink. She returned to the table, looked at Samantha, who was looking at her lap and biting her bottom lip; a gene that was no doubt courtesy of her.

Samantha looked back up at her aunt and noticed that she looked slightly paler than she did a few minutes ago. She felt her nerves crumbling, but she desperately wanted to know. "They, um, they were talking about... you. I'm not completely sure what they were talking about, but I definitely heard your name and I didn't like the way they were talking about you."

"You know what they say about eavesdroppers..."

"I wasn't eavesdropping... and, no. What do they say?"

Bella smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "That they never hear anything good."

"Whatever. Mrs. Crowley is a stuck-up nasty bitch!"

"Samantha Rose McCarty." Bella's voice took on an authoritative tone and she gave her niece a stern look. "However true that may be, she is still a teacher."

"I know Auntie B. I would never say that to her face; maybe after I graduate next year... I'm just glad she's not one of _my_teachers. I don't think I could stomach fifty minutes of her nasally, whinny voice."

Bella had to fight her smile back. "Was there a question in there, or did you just want to inform me that, while you were eavesdropping, you discovered that two teachers had nothing better to do than bring up my name?"

Samantha was still worrying her bottom lip and she began fidgeting in her lap.

Bella reached out and placed a loving hand on top of her niece's. "What is it Samantha?"

The silence seemed to be deafening for ten long seconds, until Samantha spoke the words that made Bella freeze, and her heart drop to the floor.

"Who is Edward?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Samantha noticed that her aunt's hands, which rested on top of her own, started to feel clammy and she appeared to be locked in place with all the blood seemed to have drained from her face. After a couple of minutes of strong silence, Samantha began to panic. "Auntie B?... _Aunt Bella?_"

She went to stand up, to go for the phone, when Bella's hand suddenly grabbed a hold of Samantha's wrist. "Did Jess-, was Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Crowley the one's you heard that name from?" Her voice was eerily calm.

A little freaked out by her aunt's reaction, all Samantha could do was nod.

Bella shook her head in disgust. "Will they ever stop talking about it?" She wondered aloud, mostly to herself.

"Stop talking about what?" She knew she was bordering on nosy and intrusive and while she didn't like the way those snotty teachers sneered her aunt's name and whispered about a guy named Edward, it had definitely piqued her curiosity. She wondered, based on his name, if this Edward had been an older man - or possibly a teacher there?

"Samantha... it's something that's best left in the past. Although, I have to say in a town this size and given the people in it, I'm surprised it's taken this long."

"Please Auntie B!" She pleaded, as she rose from her chair. "From what I could hear, it was obvious that something happened to you. I hate those bitches, but if I hadn't been on my way to the teacher's lounge, then I never would have known that there was anything _to_talk about! I have to know!"

"_NO YOU DON'T!_" Samantha was startled at her aunt's sudden outburst and she took a step back.

Bella took a deep breath and let it out, slowly, through her nose. "It's not something that bears repeating and trust me when I say that you're too young to know."

At this, Samantha felt her anger start to flare. "But you were _my_age!"

Bella cocked her head to the side and wondered just how much her niece had heard what those spiteful bitches were saying. "It's been a long time and _I'm_still not old enough... I… I'm sorry, but I just can't talk about it. Not with you, not with anyone. And not to mention, your mother would kill me."

"But…"

"I said no, Samantha. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to drop it."

Samantha looked as though she wanted to protest, but given the pained look on her aunt's face, she decided to accept defeat and kept her mouth shut.

"I'm going to go lay down for a bit, I'm suddenly tired. Don't you need to go home and get ready for a certain party tonight? It's getting dark."

She felt bad about having upset her aunt. They were both in such good spirits when she got there and the mood had darkened, considerably. "Yeah... I'm sorry Auntie B, I didn't mean …"

Bella raised her hand to silence her niece. "It's alright... Hey, I want you to have fun tonight and be safe, okay?"

"I will."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't drink or smoke anything, but I'm not stupid."

"I…"

Samantha started to protest, but Bella once again raised her hand to silence her. "Just promise me that if you indulge too much, you will call one of your parents, or me to pick you up. I'd rather be pissed at you than have to identify your body and please, don't ride with anybody who's messed up, either."

She seemed to consider what her aunt was saying and realized that she was dead serious. "I promise."

Bella nodded, and turned to go to her room, but quickly turned back around, just as Samantha placed her hand on the door knob. "I love you."

She paused and turned around to face her most favorite aunt. "I love you too, Auntie B."

Samantha headed home to get ready for her party and Bella went to her room to take a much needed nap. While she slept, she had the most vivid dream she's had in nearly twenty years. This one wasn't like the other ones, where she simply saw his face. This dream was so real, it was as if she relived that day over again...

OoO

_"Bella! Hurry up, you don't wanna be late for school!" Bella cringed in the mirror. She didn't like it when her father used his "outdoor" voice. It made him sound far more intimidating._

_"Be right down!" She yelled around her toothbrush. She had over slept this morning, not hearing her alarm clock going off for forty five minutes. She had been in a deep sleep, no doubt due to the fact that she had been up for half the night, chatting with her mother online._

_She finally finished up and bounded downstairs where her father, Charlie, was waiting impatiently by the front door. "Why aren't you wearing a costume? It's Halloween!"_

_"Because I'm seventeen." Bella rolled her eyes as she said this, as she thought it should have been obvious._

_Charlie harrumphed. "You're never too old for Halloween."_

_"Then why aren't you wearing a costume?" She raised her eyebrow expectantly._

_"Who says I won't dress up later tonight? Maybe I'll be a Cowboy."_

_"Yeah...sure."_

_"C'mon, let's go. I've got to get to work."_

_She hated that she had to rely on her father for transportation, even if it was temporary, __b__ut that's what happens when you have an ancient truck - it breaks down a lot._

_She reluctantly climbed in the passenger's side; not thrilled about having to hitch a ride in the police cruiser, but, again, that's what happens when your father is the Chief of Police - shit happens._

_"So," Charlie started, "there's a new student staring today, huh?"_

_Bella briefly wondered how her father had known that, but then she remembered,_Oh yeah. I'm in Forks. _"Yeah. Edward something..."_

_"Masen. He's one of Dr. Cullen's new kids. He's been in foster care for ten years now and Carlisle says he's a handful, but he seemed hopeful about the boy."_

_"Hmm." Was all Bella said. She had never been one to talk about other people, but she supposed she didn't really consider this gossip; just information._

_"I just hope I don't ever have to deal with him as a cop." Charlie continued. "As long as he doesn't give my baby girl any trouble, we should be alright."_

_"_Dad!_"_

_"I know, I know." He chuckled, as he pulled into the Forks High School parking lot. "Have a good day; can't wait to hear all about it."_

_Bella rolled her eyes playfully. "Bye, Dad. See you at three." She said, as she hopped out of the cruiser._

_"I'll be here."_

_Bella closed the door and watched as her dad drove away. It was severely overcast, but it hadn't yet started to rain, although it was predicted to for the better part of the day. She didn't understand the point in Forks having a meteorologist; how much could they possibly pay him to say the same thing every day: 'It's going to rain today?'_

_By the time she reached her first class, she had already heard the whispers starting._

_"... I heard he's been in and out of foster care his whole life..."_

_"... I heard he's clinically insane..."_

_"... I heard he has three pet tarantulas and he named them all Kenny..."_

_"... I heard his birth parents killed themselves in a double suicide..."_

_"... I heard he murdered his first foster parents..."_

_All this made Bella's stomach churn. Not because she thought there was any truth to the gossip, but because she couldn't believe the cruelty of her fellow classmates. She had been new here less than a year ago. She shuddered to think what they had said about her._

_Even though she had yet to meet him, she suddenly found herself feeling a sort of kinship with Edward Masen. She knew what it was like being the new kid in a small town and she decided then that she would reach out to him._

_All through first period English, she thought of different ways she could approach Edward, without seeming like the overly friendly type. By the time class ended, she decided to go with the simple approach:_Hi, I'm Bella.

_She was on her way to her second class, when she rounded a corner, and collided with a hard body. She stumbled back a bit and the book she was carrying fell to the ground. "Oh, I'm s-sorry..." she stammered, trailing off when she looked at the boy, who hadn't moved._

_He was nearly a foot taller than her five foot four and he was lanky, yet muscular. He had ear length reddish-brown hair, that seemed to have a mind of its own, and he was wearing a snug fitting black t-shirt, faded jeans, and very worn-looking combat boots. Then there was his eyes. She had seen people with green eyes before, but not like this. It was like staring into two shiny emeralds and they were_glaring_back at her._

_She had never seen him before, so she could only surmise that this must be Edward Masen. She felt uncomfortable under his seemingly hostile glare, and briefly wondered if there was some truth to the nasty rumors. She dismissed them just as quickly and mentally scolded herself for her impromptu judgment._

_She decided that now was just as good a time as any to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm B-bella. You must be Ed-Edward?"_

_He remained silent. In fact, he still hadn't moved at all since their collision, he just continued to glare. Bella felt the familiar heat rise to her face; till she was sure it was the color of a fire truck._

_Just then, the warning bell rang, and she remembered her book was still on the ground. Since he was obviously less than chivalrous, she bent down to pick it up, and Edward followed her every movement with his eyes._

_"Well, I b-better get to class..." Deciding that she was going to get nowhere, she gave up and hurried off to Spanish, stumbling over her own two feet on the sidewalk. She did not give Edward Masen a second glance._

_Once she was out of view, Edward felt one corner of his mouth turn up. "Nice to meet you, B-Bella."_

_OoO_

_The rest of the day passed in a blur; her mind was too preoccupied with Edward._What was his problem? _She thought._Maybe he _is_ clinically insane because that certainly wasn't normal behavior... _She berated herself, again, and reminded herself that just because he's outside the norm, doesn't make him insane._

'Outside the norm' doesn't seem to cover it. _She continued._He wasn't even in the same ballpark as normal.

_Her last class let out early, so she knew she had a little while before her father would arrive. She decided she would wait for him in the parking lol and read her worn copy of_Wuthering Heights_. She was pleasantly surprised when she reached the curb to see that it was dry. It had drizzled earlier, but let up sometime after lunch. However, from the looks of it, it was sure to rain again, soon._

_It looked as though almost all the students had already left; there were only a couple of cars in the parking lot. She knew a couple of them to be the teachers', but she wasn't sure who the black Mercedes belonged to._

_She was so engrossed in her book; she didn't hear anybody approach her. She saw a shadow move across her book and that's when she noticed the tall figure standing over her. She looked up, only to be met with green eyes, but this time, they seemed less hostile._

_"Hello there, B-Bella." He seemed to mock her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn't help but notice that his voice was smooth, like satin and it had a certain charm to it; it was like no other she had ever heard. She was beginning to think that Edward Masen was in a class all of his own._

_"I'm Edward and I want to thank you for talking to me today. You were the only one who did. Willingly, anyway." As he said this, one corner of his mouth turned up into the most gorgeous crooked smile she had ever seen. She had been too distracted to notice before, but Edward was a very good-looking guy._He was beautiful_, she decided._

_He then held out his hand for her to take._

_She couldn't help but feel as though her fate hung in the balance. She, also, briefly wondered if he was bipolar, and decided that it was entirely possible._

_With a steeling breath, she tentatively held out a slightly trembling hand and placed it in his. It was warm, soft, and strong. And he had long fingers._

_Without warning, he grabbed a hold of her wrist and yanked up to her feet. She gasped and tried to pull away, but with a firm hold, he pulled her into him and wrapped his arm around her waist._

_Bella began to panic. "What are you d…"_

_Edward released her wrist and brought a finger to her mouth. "Shhh."_

_She tried to move her head away, while simultaneously trying to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill over._

_"Come with me." He said in a gentle voice. It was very contradictory._

_"W-what? No, my- my dad!" She tried to push away, but it was useless. He still had a good hold on her and he was much stronger than her._

_Then, slowly - as if watching an action movie, where everything is in slow motion during that one, pivotal moment - he reached behind his back, and pulled out a knife. He held it just above her naval. She thought it was the worst kind of pressure. It wasn't piercing her skin, but knowing that it could at any moment, made her want to scream._

_But she knew that would be very stupid._

_"It wasn't a request, B-Bella." To a casual observer, it would appear as though Edward was engaged in polite conversation._

_She stood stalk-still and finally allowed the tears to flow freely. "Please." She breathed._

_He cocked his to the side and his croocked smile slowly spread across his face. He nodded to the black Mercedes that was about ten feet away. "Get in the car." He said._

_A sob shuddered in her chest and she made to go for her bag that was next to the curb._

_"Leave it." He commanded, all politeness gone from his voice._

_Edward had the knife, discreetly, pressed to her back and he guided her over to the car._

_With the greatest apprehension she had ever felt, Bella climbed into the driver's side and slid over to the passenger's seat._

_"Put your seatbelt on. Safety first!" Bella gave him an incredulous look. He sounded as though he was lecturing a nine year old._

_He raised an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to challenge him. She didn't think that would be wise, so she reached for her belt, pulled it across her, and snapped it into place._

_He pulled out of the parking lot, onto the road, and headed towards the highway, whistling to himself. Bella was furiously wiping away tears the whole way._

_OoO_

_They had been on the road for three hours and it was starting to get dark. Bella wasn't sure where they were headed, but they were long past Seattle. Her cheeks felt chapped from her dried tears, but she only stopped crying an hour ago._

_Not a word had been spoken since the parking lot. For the first two hours, the only sounds had been Bella's quiet crying. Now, the only sounds were the hum of the engine. She would occasionally glance at Edward, but he remained focused on the road. He was the picture of calm._

_Bella thought about Charlie and that made her want to cry, again, but with some effort, she was able to fight back the tears._

_She bravely decided that it was time to break the silence. "Where are we going?" Her voice was quiet, but surprisingly steady._

_Edward glanced at her and a smile was tugging at his lips. "Good things come to those wait." Was all he said._

_Bella felt a couple of tears break through. "Why are you doing this?" Her voice broke at the end._

_Edward tightened his grip on the steering wheel and he turned his attention back to the road. "Please don't do that. Something so beautiful shouldn't cry."_

_At this she scoffed, which seemed to anger Edward, his knuckles turning white. She decided that he was a walking, talking contradiction._

_"You don't think you're beautiful." It was more of a statement, than a question._

_She refused to entertain his line of conversation and opted to stare out the window instead. From her peripheral vision, she saw Edward reach a hand out toward her, which caused her heart rate to spike, but before her panic went into overdrive, his hand retreated back to the steering wheel._

_Several minutes of uncomfortable silence went by, when Edward, suddenly, jerked the car to the right and came to an abrupt stop on the side of the quiet highway._

_Before Bella had time to register his action, he was on top of her, straddling her lap, with her face in his hands. She grasped onto her seat with both hands and she was sure they would be sore later. "Why don't you think you're beautiful?" He yelled, his nose a mere inch from her own._

_She couldn't seem to form a coherent thought, much less words. She was too stunned to even cry._

_He slammed his hand against her headrest, which caused her to cry out. "ANSWER ME!"_

_For the third time that day, she allowed the tears flow down her face. "I-I-I don't...know." Her voice was barely audible._

_He then did something completely unexpected - which is all he had done since the moment she laid eyes on him. He collapsed in her arms and started sobbing._

_"You are beautiful, Bella! You_ARE!_"_

_To say she was shocked was an understatement. She was confused. She had never been more uncertain of a situation in her entire life._

_Edward lay there, with his cheek resting on Bella's breast, and cried for twenty minutes. Then, she knew without a doubt…_Edward Masen is certifiably insane.

_She wasn't sure why she did it- she was terrified of the man, but at the same time, it pained her to see him weeping- she brought her hand up and placed it on the back of Edward's head. He stopped crying immediately, but he made no movement._

_She threaded her fingers through his hair._So soft. _She thought. She refused to admit that she had wanted to do that since she met him._

_He lifted his head and locked eyes with her. He slowly brought his face closer, until their lips were touching._

_Bella wasn't sure what to do. He began moving his mouth, but she stayed frozen. After a couple of minutes, she responded, which caused him to breathe harder. When she opened her mouth, Edward slid his tongue inside and she moaned._

_Edward broke the kiss and laughed. He brought his hands up to the top of her midnight blue blouse and tore it open._

_She gasped and tried to cover herself, but he was suddenly holding the knife against her chest._

The knife! _She thought in a panic._Why didn't I go for the knife?_She knew it was too little too late, but if she was being honest with herself, she knew that she would have been too much of a coward to use it anyway._

_"Oh, B-Bella, such an enigma. I wonder..." he said, as he slowly dragged the knife down her chest, not quite breaking the skin, "if you're as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside...?"_

_She felt the stress of the situation and knew that if he decided to slit her throat and leave her on the side of the highway, there was nothing she could do about it._

_"Please, Edward." Her voice sounded small, even to her. "You don't want to do this."_

_"I don't?" He said, while raising an eyebrow._

_"No." She shook her head. "My dad is a cop."_

_Edward bellowed a laughed. "And my new daddy is a doctor."_

_She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will herself to be anywhere, but where she was. Her legs were beginning throb, painfully, with the weight of Edward._

_Just then, headlights illuminated the inside, signaling an approaching vehicle._

_A truck started to drive past, but obviously having seen the car, decided to pull over. Bella assumed it was to make sure everything was okay. She was equal parts relieved and terrified._

_Edward slid back over to his seat and while the pressure off her legs was a welcome relief, it suddenly felt like needles were stabbing her._

_He gave her a menacing glare, that seemed to say 'don't even fucking think about it'._

_A man, who appeared to be in his early forties, got out of the truck and walked over to the car. Edward looked as cool as a cucumber and Bella was trying to control her breathing._

_He glanced at her from the side, and tapped his knife against the seat, which he was holding down by his right leg. She tried to hold her blouse together, in modesty, which caused Edward to smirk._

_The man approached the driver's side of the car and tried to look through; with it being dark and the tinted windows, it was nearly impossible._

_Edward pushed the button to roll down his window, which seemed to slightly startle the man. He peeked his head in and looked at the both of them._

_"Good evening," Edward said with a smile, "is there something we can help you with?"_

_The man seemed a little taken back. "Uh, I was just checking to see if everything is alright. You know, just saw a car on the side of the highway and wanted to make sure you all were okay. Is everything alright?" When he asked this, he shifted his eyes to Bella._

_"Everything's just fine." Edward was so calm, it was frightening._

_The man turned his attention to Bella and he took in her appearance. "Ma'am, are you okay?"_

_She was panicking on the inside and she was too afraid to form words. She glanced at Edward, who was giving her a murderous glare. "I-"_

_"She's fine." Edward interrupted, turning his attention back to the man with a friendly smile._

_"She doesn't look fine." The man was obviously less than convinced._

_Edward opened his door and stepped out, holding the knife behind his back. "I said she's fine. You can go now." All friendliness was gone from his voice._

_"I'm not going anywhere."_

_Bella was starting to severely fear for the man's safety, so she did the only thing she could think of to do. "Edward, honey." She said, while leaning over. She was surprised that her voice was steady. "Get back in the car, we've got to go."_

_As if they had been together for years, Edward turned to get back in the car._

_But the man was obviously too stupid to know better._

_"Hey!" He said and did the one thing that he should not have done. He grabbed Edward by the shoulder._

_Edward whipped around and without a second thought, stabbed the man in the stomach._

_Bella screamed and covered her mouth in horror._

_The man fell to his knees and Edward roughly pulled the knife out. "I said she was_FIIINE!_" He yelled and brought both his hands up to his head, still clutching the blood soaked knife._

_Bella still had her hands over her mouth and she was sobbing violently._

_Edward wiped his knife on the man's shirt, who lay unconscious and bleeding on the ground, tucked it away, and walked back to the car. He got in, slammed the door shut, put on his seat belt and peeled away._

_The only sounds in the car were Bella's sobbing and Edward's angry breathing._

_"Why did you do that?" She screamed through her sobs._

_He punched the steering wheel, repeatedly, for a good ten seconds. She looked at the speedometer and noted they were going ninety seven miles per hour. "I didn't want to, but he made me!"_

_Bella suddenly found herself very angry. "NO HE DIDN"T! He was just trying to help!" She let out another angry sob._

_Edward clutched his hair with both hands violently, not slowing down. "I didn't want to! I don't want to. I don't want to do it anymore. I don't want to do it anymore." He began to chant this over and over again._

_"You don't have to, Edward." Her voice became soft. "You can change...if you really want to." She didn't know if what she was saying was true, but she liked to believe it._

_He was still gripping his hair tightly and he continued to chant, as if he hadn't heard her, but she had a feeling he did._

_She wondered if Dr. Cullen knew how bad off Edward was, but then assumed not, or else she liked to think he wouldn't have been allowed in public._

_He still hadn't taken a hold of the steering wheel and they hadn't slowed down. She could see that the road turned to the right up ahead, but Edward didn't appear to notice or even care. She felt the panic begin to rise again, and she knew that if she didn't do something, they were going to crash._

_In a bold move, she reached for the steering wheel, which seemed to snap him out of his trance. He roughly grabbed a hold of her wrist and she cried out in pain._

_A look of genuine concern crossed his face and he released her wrist, taking hold of the wheel. For the briefest moment, they locked eyes, and something seemed to pass through them. In that moment, Bella could see that through all his insanity, there was still a fragile seventeen year old boy in there._

_She turned her eyes back to the road and as she did, she saw another car was rounding the corner, and Edward had veered to the left. She gasped and he cut his eyes away, jerking the car to the right. They hit the side rail and the car spun to the left, just as the other car passed. They hit an abandoned tire that lay off to the left and they flipped two or three times, landing upside down in the field._

_Bella was semi-conscious and she could feel the warm blood pooling down her face, tasting it in her mouth. She was aware that someone was undoing her seatbelt and she was pulled from the car._

_Moments later the car exploded and everything went black._

OoO

Bella woke with a start and sat upright in bed. She was drenched in sweat, her hair sticking to her forehead. She climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, dried it off with a towel, and stared at herself in the mirror.

She smoothed her hair back from her head and ran her finger over the two inch long scar at her hairline. She did something that she hasn't done in twenty years – she, willingly, allowed her thoughts to go to Edward.

She wondered where he was and what he was doing. There was no body found in the wreckage and the authorities gave up the manhunt after three months. He was never heard or seen again.

And there never did seem to be a method to his insanity.

Still traumatized and spending time in therapy, she didn't return to school for almost a month. She was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the students were sympathetic and didn't give her a hard time; aside from Jessica and Lauren that is. After talking with her niece today, she realized that some things never change.

Not a day has gone by since, however uninvited, that Edward hasn't popped in her head and she doubted that there ever would be.

She figured he could be anywhere in the world; Chicago, Italy, or even dead by now. She wasn't sure why, but she hoped it wasn't the latter. She knew that it was a very real possibility.

Bella never got over what happened to her that day. Even though the memories still haunt her, she has still managed to live a relatively normal life. Aside from the fact that she's thirty seven, lives alone, and has no plans of ever getting married.

Shutting her mind off, she left bathroom, and went to the living room. She looked at the clock and saw it was after eleven. She looked at her phone and saw that she had two texts; one from her sister, Rosalie, reminding her that she will be over at ten tomorrow morning to get ready for their own Halloween party, and one from Samantha, letting her know that she was home safely. Bella smiled to herself.

With a sigh, she went to her DVD collection, grabbed her copy of _Scream_, and retreated to her room. She put the movie in her DVD player and turned off the lights.

OoO

A little ways down the road, a bronze haired man, in his late thirties, was driving a silver Volvo on the one- oh- one. He passed a sign on the highway that read 'Forks: 40 Miles'. He smiled mischievously to himself and pressed harder on the accelerator.

OoO

**A/N: I'm not writer, so I'm sure there's bound to be mistakes. If you feel compelled to leave a review, please do so, as I'd love to hear what you thought. I only ask that you please don't hate.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Ruby**


	2. Chapter 2

**His Name Was Edward**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns**_**Twilight**_**, and all its characters.**

_**REMINDER:**_**This is not an Edward and Bella love story, so if you're looking for a HEA, you won't find it here.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/alerted/added to favorites; that means a lot to me. And of course, thank you for reading.**

**Thank you to my rock star beta, Mari (booty492). You're awesome!**

**EsmeRoxMySox: Life without fanfiction**_**sucked**_**that week, but I managed to survive. ; )**

OoO

Fear of error which everything recalls to me at every moment of the flight of my ideas, this mania for control, makes men prefer reason's imagination to the imagination of the senses. And yet it is always the imagination alone which is at work.

- Louis Aragon

OoO

At ten o'clock on the dot, Bella was lounging on her couch drinking coffee, when Rosalie burst through Bella's front door; her hands full of bags from a party supply store.

Rosalie huffed when she saw her sister. "Well don't just sit there! Give me a hand."

Bella sat her mug down on the coffee table and clapped.

"Very fucking funny, bitch! Get over here."

Bella rolled her eyes and got up to retrieve the bags from her sister's well manicured hands. "You know, you catch more flies with honey."

"Shut the fuck up. You sound like dad."

"I do not." Bella grumbled.

"Oh, you _so_do, too! Especially, when you grumble like that."

Bella sighed dramatically and Rosalie raised her hands in the air to surrender. "Alright, alright...what is with you today? You seem a little grumpy. You on the rag?" She asked, as they started unpacking the bags' contents.

"You know, I've always hated that term." Her sister raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not _on the rag._"

"Then what's your problem?" She placed a hand on her hip in irritation.

"I don't have a problem! Aren't I allowed to have a bad day?"

"Not today you're not. And it's only ten, what the fuck?"

"_Goddamnit, Rosalie!_Why do you have to be such a bitch?"

Rosalie set her plastic pumpkin down, walked over to her sister, took the bag of spider webs out of her hands, and put them on the table. "What's really going on here?" Her voice became gentle.

Bella sighed and sat down. "Samantha…"

"What did she do?" Rosalie interrupted. "I love her, but I swear I'll kick her ass!"

Bella chuckled. "No, no. She didn't do anything. She just - she overheard Jessica and Lauren talking in the teacher's lounge."

Her sister's eyes narrowed into slits and her voice became angry. "What did those bitches say about my baby? I swear to God, I'll go down there and…"

"Rose! They didn't say anything about Samantha."

"Oh." She simply said and glanced at her nails. "Then...what did she _overhear_?"

"She heard them talking about me...and Edward." His name came out in a whisper.

Rosalie gasped. "Those nasty cunts. I have a good mind to report them to the Board of Education!"

Bella waved her sister off. "Don't bother. If she didn't hear it from them, she was bound to hear it from _someone_. Besides, this town is lacking in teachers." She intentionally said 'teachers', and not 'good teachers'.

Rosalie sighed and stared at her sister for a moment. "You didn't - did you tell her...?"

Bella shook her head. "No. Of course not, but that doesn't mean she didn't ask." She laughed without humor. "... I dreamt about it last night."

"Oh Bella." Her sister said and wrapped her arms around her.

Bella hugged her sister and allowed the rare, tender moment to pass between them.

Rosalie let go of her, stood up straight, cleared her throat, and went back to the Halloween decorations. "They never did find him, did they?" She knew she was treading in dangerous territory, but she also had a feeling her sister wanted to talk about it.

Bella simply shook her head.

"Poor Dr. Cullen," Rosalie continued, "And poor Esme! She was a complete wreck for years."

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"You know," her sister went on. "I'll never forget getting that call from dad. He was so beside himself, I almost didn't recognize his voice. It sounded like someone di-" Rosalie immediately cut herself off, and regretted her poor choice of words. "God, Bella, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's alright, Rose." She gave her sister a small smile. "Sometimes I wonder - if I had done something different, maybe he..."

Rosalie took her sister's face in her hands. "Hey. Look at me," she locked eyes with her sister. "It's not your fault what that lunatic did."

Bella felt her eyes brim with water. "I know. I just - I hated that someone had to die." Her voice broke at the end, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Rosalie's face softened. "I know, honey. Edward was a psychopath. None of it was your fault. _Do you hear me?_" Bella nodded. "_None_of it."

Rosalie released her face and went back to her task.

Bella wiped her tear away and stared out the window. She loved what the Fall did to the trees.

"I know it sounds fucked up, but thank God you guys crashed when you did. Who knows what may have happened to you." She glanced at her sister with genuine curiosity. "And he really never said where he was going?"

Bella still stared out the window when she answered; her mind was far away. "No." she whispered. "I don't think _he_knew...he was messed up Rose. So very messed up..." she trailed off, still lost in thought. _I wonder if he ever got help?_She thought. _If he's still alive, that is. And why does it bother me to think that he might not be? Wherever you are, Edward - I hope you're better than you were..._

Rosalie watched her sister for a moment, and noted that her words sounded very much like sympathy. And perhaps something else? She opened her mouth to inquire about it, but thinking better of it, quickly closed it. Even she, herself, knew that she could be a callous bitch, but she wasn't quite _that_ heartless, to keep dragging out a subject that's obviously causing her pain. _Say what you will about Rosalie McCarty_ she thought. _But I love my family_.

Just then the front door burst open, snapping both girls out of their inner musing. "Hey! Hey! Hey! What's shakin', ladies?" Emmett rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen, while taking a bite of his already half-eaten meatball sub. He had marinara sauce on his left cheek, and a mysterious marinara handprint stain forming on his bright yellow t-shirt.

Bella chuckled at the sight of her brother - she knew he wasn't _really_her brother, but to her, he may as well have been - and Rosalie placed a hand on her hip. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

He shrugged sheepishly, and finished off the rest of his sandwich in one bite. "Whatever you want to, baby." He garbled, and winked at his wife, then attempted to give her a hug.

"Ugh! You're such a pig!" she shouted and tried to push him away.

"Yeah, but you love it." Emmett managed to give her a kiss on the cheek, to which she complained that foundation and marinara sauce don't mix. By the time he got to her mouth, she stopped fighting, and gave up with a laugh.

Bella watched with rapt interest, but also with longing. She's had one serious boyfriend, and has dated a couple of times, but decided to give up on the whole idea several months ago, when her last date was a complete disaster. She was very happy for her sister and glad that she had found somebody who loved her, unconditionally. And as much as Rosalie complained about some of Emmett's habits, she knew that she wouldn't change a thing about him.

"Emmett, you asshole." Rosalie said, while wiping sauce off the corner of her mouth. "Now I have to go fix my face!"

At this, Bella rolled her eyes. Her sister could have marinara sauce sprayed on her with a hose, and still be the most beautiful woman in the room as far as she was concerned.

Rosalie went down the hall to the bathroom, and Emmett sat down at the table, finally noticing all the Halloween decorations. "Damn Bella Baby, what'd you guys do, buy out the store?" He nodded to the big, plastic Grim Reaper in the corner.

Bella raised her hands in the air. "Don't look at me. This was all your wife's doing."

"Figures." He nodded. "Have you seen our house lately? It looks like Halloween threw up in here!"

Bella laughed out loud, and quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

Emmett narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Samantha" She laughed. "She said those exact words yesterday!"

He smiled wide with pride.

"Only it was in reference to my cookies."

"Cookies?" Emmett suddenly looked like a kid who was just told they're going for ice cream. "You have cookies? Don't hold out on me BB!"

"They're pumpkin cookies."

And just like that, it looked like someone had kicked his puppy. "_Pumpkin_cookies? _Really?_"

She tried not to look offended. "Yes, Emmett, I made _pumpkin_cookies, for _Halloween_." She jutted her chin out defiantly. "Don't knock them till you try them."

Still looking like a kid, he asked - in his mind - the obvious question. "Did you make them with chocolate chips?"

Looking at him like he just showed her a finger painting he made in school, she patted his head. "Of course I did. And I had you in mind when I put them in there."

"Bring 'em on!" he beamed.

OoO

"So, I was wondering..." Emmett said, around a mouthful of cookies. "why _you_like Halloween so much?"

Bella stood up with her brother's empty glass, and went to the fridge, refilling his milk. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I?" She had a feeling she knew what he meant, but she decided to play dumb.

She set his milk in front of him, and he stopped chewing for a moment, and looked her in the eyes. "You know what I mean, BB."

She sighed, and turned her attention back to the decorations.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I shouldn't have brought it up. I just - since it _happened_on Halloween..."

"It's okay, Emmett. It's actually been a hot topic lately, so it's not like it I wasn't already thinking about it." She smiled lightly.

He looked at her questioningly, but she waved a hand. "Don't ask."

He shrugged and went back to his cookies.

"But, to answer your question... I don't know." She appeared lost in thought, and Emmett looked at her curiously. "I was never a _really_ big fan of Halloween to begin with, but I guess the whole experience made me appreciate it even more, you know? Face your demons - no pun intended."

Rosalie reentered the kitchen, to see her husband eating a plate full of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. "Oh Jesus!" she looked pointedly at her sister. "You do realize that I have to sleep in the same bed with him, don't you?"

OoO

"Oh my God, Bella!" Angela slurred. "Your house looks _amazing!_" She pointed to the many decorations and the black lights.

Bella smiled at her inebriated guest, who was dressed as a Catholic school girl, pig-tails and all. "Thank you!" she had to yell over the music. She suppressed the urge to remind her that that was the third time she had told her that. "I'm glad you're having a good time!"

"I'm having _such_a great time!"

Bella laughed and smiled. "That's _great!_" She spotted her sister, coming out of the kitchen. "Excuse me!"

Angela nodded, drinking from her red Solo cup, and disappeared in the crowd.

"My God, Rosalie!" she said, walking up to her sister. "I can't believe Emmett has let you out of his sight!"

Rosalie was dressed as a "sexy mechanic", an outfit she had ordered online. It was a red dress with white polka dots on the ends and on the collar, and had a small blue top that tied in the front. It was very short and very revealing. It was complete with a small red bandana with white polka dots, a mechanics belt, and red open-toed platform heels.

Rosalie flipped her hair back. "Well I'm not gonna hold his dick for him while he pees!"

"Why not, babe?" Emmett asked, coming up behind her, and wrapping his arm around her.

"Jesus, Em!" Bella placed a hand to her heart. "I swear, you're gonna give me a heart attack in that costume!"

He was dressed as an _actual_ mechanic, and he was wearing a mask identical to Corey Taylor's from Slipknot.

He laughed, and starting head banging to the music, which was a pop song.

"Dude!" A man dressed as Father Death - whom she assumed to be Ben, based on his short height - shouted as he walked by, pointing to Emmett with devil horns. "Sick!"

"I really can't believe it, Bella!" Rosalie said, with a smile and a nod. "I can't believe you _actually_dressed up this year!"

"Yeah, you look awesome, BB! You never dress up, what gives?"

"Thank you! I don't know!" she said with a shrug. "Just thought, what the hell!"

Bella looked down at herself and smiled. She wasn't sure how it would turn out, but she had to admit, that she looked good. She wore a nineteenth century v-neck dark red boudoir dress. It was very long, with a lavish cascade of ruffles and frills, and the long sleeves were slit up to the elbows on the inside. Her long, thick brown hair, which was normally straight, was in long curls, pulled into a half pony tail, and wrapped in an elegant bun, with a few stray tendrils on the side. Her costume was complete with a long silver antique necklace, with a v-shape pendant, and five diamonds hanging from the end.

"Who are you supposed to be again?"

Bella smiled at her brother, even though it scared her to look at him. "I'm Mina!"

She didn't have to see his face to know that he looked confused. "... From Bram Stoker's Dracula!"

He simply nodded his head. "Doesn't Winona Ryder have black hair?"

Rosalie, playfully, punched her husband in the stomach. "What, babe? I'm just sayin!"

"I know, I know!" Bella waved him off. "I wanted it to be authentic, but I didn't want to dye my hair!" She laughed.

"Say sis!" Bella could tell her sister was a little tipsy. "That's not exactly something you can put together on a whim..."

She chewed on her bottom lip. "Yeah, I know! Luckily, one of Angela's friends overseas is a fashion designer, and she agreed to make the dress for me real cheap, like, three months ago!"

"Three months ago?" her sister shrieked.

"Surprise!" Bella spread her arms out in front of her, as if she had just jumped out of a birthday cake.

"Well I have to say," Rosalie raised an eyebrow at her sister. "... You look absolutely gorgeous!"

It was a rare moment, indeed, when Rosalie handed out compliments. Bella gave a genuine smile. "Thanks Rose!" She brought a hand to her throat, and noted that it was getting a little sore from all the shouting.

Emmett tipped his red cup back, and looked at Bella "Why aren't you drinking, BB?"

"Someone's gotta keep a clear head around here!" she shrugged. She wanted to be able to remember all the costumes she saw tonight - something she's always enjoyed doing. No one, herself excluded, had gotten overly creative. She noted that there were three witches, four pirates, two doctors, two nurses, and three Father Deaths. Although, there was only one mummy, one sexy mechanic, one member from Slipknot, and of course, one Bride of Dracula. Bella was not by any means conceited, but she was well aware that she was the most original. After all, she had gotten six compliments tonight. She didn't like being the center of attention, but, for some reason, she felt like dressing up this year. She figured she may as well do it right.

When she briefly saw one of the Father Deaths disappear upstairs - she assumed to use the bathroom, since the downstairs one was occupied - she couldn't help but think of her niece, and she smiled. She saw that the other two were both dancing.

Bella was making her way to the candy, which was on the coffee table, when she bumped into her sister.

"Oops. Sorry Rose!"

"S'okay!" she slurred. "I'm surprised you haven't knocked anyone out with that big goddamn dress!" she giggled, and stumbled into Emmett.

"Whoa there, babe! Don't pass out on me too soon!" she rolled her eyes, and tipped her cup back.

"You know BB, I gotta give you points for originality! You put everybody here to shame!"

"Aww, thanks Em!" she blushed. "Everybody except for you two! I don't see any other Corey Taylors here!"

Emmett cocked his head to the side. "You know who Corey Taylor is?"

She shook her head. "If it wasn't for a brief lesson from your daughter, I would have no clue!" she laughed and he joined her. "At least you're not dressed as Father Death! There's _three_of them!"

"Nope!" Rosalie piped in. "There's only two-a-them!"

"No, there are three!" she pointed to her head. "I counted!"

"You counted wrong, BB!" Emmett said. "She's right, I've only seen two! Ben is one and Mike is the other!"

_Huh._ She thought. _Must have got it wrong._"Wait - Mike _Newton?_"

"Don't worry, sis! His slut of a wife isn't here! She's probably on some shameless dick right now!"

Ben walked by again, and Rosalie stepped in his path. "Please don't kill me Mr. Ghostface. I wanna be in the _sequel!_"

"Alright, babe." Emmett said, while taking her cup away. "I think you've had enough!"

The party was in full swing, and Bella looked around, smiling to herself.

After making a couple more rounds, she grabbed a Reese's and a water, and headed up to her room, away from the noise for a few minutes. She was going to eat her yummy peanut butter cup in private, and try to soothe her throat with cool liquid.

She stepped into her room, turned on the light, and closed the door. She had to maneuver her dress around for a moment, but she was finally able to sit down on the bed. She opened up her orange wrapper, peeled off the dark brown paper, and took a bite. "Mmm." she moaned aloud. "So good." She knew she was talking to herself, but when it came to Reese's, it didn't matter.

She unscrewed the cap from her water, and took three big gulps. She was putting the cap back on, when she heard a noise come from her closet. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, staring at the closet door. She thought she may have been hearing things, but then she heard rustling coming from inside. She got up, and walked slowly to the closet, tentatively reached a hand out, and placed it on the door knob. She turned it slowly and cautiously opened the door. She turned on the light, and didn't see anything unusual. She was turning to leave and close the door, when she caught sight of a pair of black boots hidden below the only two long dresses that she owned. She knew the boots were definitely not hers. She was wondering where the boots could have come from, when one of them suddenly moved. She gasped as Father Death stepped out of her wardrobe. Her hand was clamping down so hard on the door knob that she was surprised it didn't break off.

All she could do was stare, and he, too, stood there, unmoving. "B-Bella." Was all he said.

Bella felt the blood drain from her face, and she couldn't control her breathing. He brought a hand up to his face and took his mask off.

"Jesus Christ! What the _fuck_, Mike?" She placed a hand to her heart, and went and sat back on the bed with a thump. Dress be damned.

"I'm _sooo_s-sorry Bellaaa!" he slurred. "I didn't mean -" hiccup "- to scare yoooou."

"What were you doing in my _closet?_" She seethed, while laying back.

"Umm..." he turned and looked back, to confirm that it was indeed a closet that he had just been in. "I think I may have gotten lost." He hiccupped, again.

"Oh my God." she whispered, covering her face with her hands. "Get out, Mike."

"Okay." He hiccupped. "I'm r-really sorry, Bella."

"It's fine," she lied. "I have a feeling you won't even remember."

She stood up, slowly, and ushered him out. "I'm really sor-" he started to apologize again, but Bella closed and locked her door.

She rested her forehead on the door, along with her palms, and let out a deep breath. "_Fuuuck_." she whispered to no one in particular, not caring that she swore for a second time that night. "_Why do I keep thinking of Edward?_"

Just then, her blood ran cold, and every hair on her body stood on end. She felt her palms become sweaty and she felt paralyzed. She couldn't explain it - she had heard nothing; not a sound. Yet, it was as though he had announced his presence with a wrecking ball. She felt an involuntary tremor run through her body, and she made a whimpering sound.

And then, as if a light breeze had flitted through the room, she felt warm breath on her neck.

"Hello, B-Bella," rang an all-too familiar voice. "_You've-been-thinking-about-me!_" he sang.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and closed her eyes tight, not willing to believe that he was really there. In her bedroom.

"Oh, my beautiful Bella." he cooed. "You look positively stunning tonight." He brought a hand up, and gently ran his fingers through her hair. Bella gasped, but refused to turn around, still not accepting the reality of the situation, despite how real his fingers felt.

He brought his nose to her hair, breathing in her scent. "I've missed you."

She decided that believing he wasn't really there was a wasted effort, so with a little bit of fortitude, she opened her eyes, and slowly turned around. She raised her gaze to Edward's, and released a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

That slow, crooked smile made its way across his face. Bella surmised that, aside from the obvious aging, he hadn't changed much at all. He was wearing black combat boots and black jeans, which were barely visible over the black cloak he was wearing, with the hood pulled back.

His face was a mere three inches away from her own, and he brought his hand up, cupping her cheek. When she didn't gasp or try to pull away, he cocked his head to the side, trying to gauge her reaction. "Still as beautiful as ever." he breathed.

He, slowly, dragged his thumb over her bottom lip, and she gasped slightly, parting her lips. Edward dragged his gaze to her lips, back to her eyes, and to her lips again.

Having noticed that he seemed distracted, Bella quickly brought her knee up, and connected with his stomach as hard as she could.

"Umph!" he growled, and hunched over, holding his mid-section.

She quickly turned - as quickly as she could, given the enormousness of the dress - and unlocked the door. She pulled it open hastily, but it was slammed shut just as fast by an angry hand.

Edward grabbed her by the waist from behind, yanking her into him. "That wasn't very nice, Bella." he seethed in her ear. "I might make you pay for that later."

Bella felt a sob shudder in her chest. "_Please Edward_," she pleaded. "Please don't do this."

"Oh my," he gasped, feigning shock. "She speaks!"

The water that was infusing her eyes broke through, and slowly started streaming down her face.

"_Why?_" she implored. "Why are you doing this, Edward?"

He spun her around, so she was facing him, and gently grabbed her face in his hands. She closed her eyes as the tears started to fall more freely, not giving a damn that mascara was no doubt running down her face.

"Look at me." She refused to open her eyes, and he wasn't having that. "Look. At. Me." he demanded.

She opened her tear filled eyes and met his gaze. She was shocked to see that they were soft, almost pleading. "Don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answers to." he whispered.

For some reason, that statement seemed to be the off switch to her tears. She sniffed and wiped the remaining water from her face. She looked at her hands and noticed that her fingers were black.

She looked back up at Edward and his eyes were boring into hers. She wasn't sure why, but she was at least relieved to see that he wasn't dead. She wondered where he had been all these years, as if it was her business, and was saddened to see that he had not seeked professional help. _If he had,_she thought. _The psychiatrist in question needs to be fired._

"_Edward_," she whispered. His eyes grew wide for a second before going back to normal, and he stiffened momentarily. "Whatever you have planned, _please_..." she trailed off, unsure what she was asking.

Edward was caught off guard by her request. He wanted nothing more than to please his beautiful Bella, but that part of him, that darker side, refused to give in. He seemed to snap out of whatever spell she had just cast on him, and his eyes lit up. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Bella cried out softly in a whimper, and tried to sink to the floor, but Edward was quick to grab a hold of her. "Wait here." he whispered. "Don't move." He retreated to her bathroom, and emerged a half second later, with a Father Death mask, and a tissue.

He wiped the mascara off her face and she didn't bother trying to fight him.

"There's a park half a block from your house; let's go."

"But - my guests..." she panicked.

Edward chuckled. "Bella...has anybody come up here to check on you?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but realized that he wasn't wrong.

"I'm sure by now your _guests_have either gone home, or are passed out... Do you hear that?" he asked, placing his hand behind his, as if straining to hear.

She was confused for a moment, until she realized that she no longer heard any music. Bella stood there, wondering how it was possible that this was happening yet again, and she turned towards the window as she sniffed, bringing the tissue to her eye.

While she didn't really know Edward at all, she did know him enough that trying to fight was futile. "Should I change?" she whispered, feeling defeated.

Edward grinned ear to ear. "I'm sure that's not the most comfortable ensemble in the world, but I'm certainly not opposed to seeing you in it a little while longer. You can change later - I already packed your bag."

A sob again shuddered in her chest.

"Don't even think about trying to get away, B-Bella. If you do, that sexy little mechanic downstairs will never see the light of day again..." he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear. "_I promise._"

With that, Edward slipped his mask on and put his hood up. "After you." he said and led her out the door.

OoO

Getting into Edward's car had been somewhat of a challenge for Bella, but not impossible.

They had been on the road for over an hour and with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, she had not said a word. She simply stared at the road.

This time, it was Edward who broke the silence. "You know, I would love to have seen the look on your face when that Mike guy stepped out of your closet." he chuckled.

She continued to stare ahead when she spoke, her voice soft and calm. "You knew he was there."

He looked at her, smiling brightly. "Of course."

"I'm glad I could amuse you."

"Aww, come on! You have to admit, it was a little funny."

"Yeah." she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. "I'm sure I'll look back on this time with nothing but fond memories."

Edward sighed, annoyed by her tone. "The least you could do is say thank you."

At this, Bella scoffed, finally looking at Edward. "_Thank you?_For what?"

"_Really,_Bella? When was the last time you had any fun?"

She bellowed a humorless laugh. "Well, obviously, we have two very different definitions of the word 'fun'. _My_idea of fun doesn't include being kidnapped, _twice_, by an unbalanced mental case!"

Edward growled, turning back to the road, and tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "You don't know anything about me at all." He seethed through clenched teeth.

"You're right Edward, I don't," she sneered. "So tell me - did you really murder your first foster parents?" she knew that he could very well snap at that question, but she didn't have it in her to care.

His eyes widened for just a moment and then he laughed, maniacally. "Now _that!_" he said, pointing his finger in the air, as if to make a strong point. "That was just a nasty rumor - it was self defense."

An involuntary shudder ran up her body at his admission, and she became sad at the thought of a young boy having to defend himself against his "parents".

"And before you ask - no, my real parents did not kill themselves."

Bella gasped and Edward looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "What? You think I didn't hear the rumors?"

It was quiet after that. Nearly twenty minutes had gone by and it was a strange, comfortable silence. Bella looked at the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was two fifteen am. She sighed and leaned her head back against the seat. "I can't believe you drive a Volvo." she murmured.

One corner of Edward's mouth turned up and he cast her a brief glance. "Why not, it gets good mileage."

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head, trying to figure out the puzzle that was Edward Masen.

She chewed on her bottom lip, contemplating her next question. His reaction was never what she expected; she decided she may as well ask. "What happened to them?"

The question didn't seem to faze him a bit. "My parents?"

She nodded.

He shrugged as if he just found out he lost a five dollar bet. "They were killed during a home invasion. I was staying at a friend's house that night, just a few houses down. Jeremy - he was my best friend, but we fought like brothers. We started arguing about something really stupid, like seven year olds do, and sometime after midnight I got really pissed at him, and ran home. I had intended on climbing in through the window, but I noticed the front door was wide open. I walked inside and flipped the switch for the light, but it wouldn't turn on."

He paused for just a moment, and Bella saw that he seemed very far away, more than likely back in that moment. She wanted to tell him he didn't have to continue, but before she could, he went on.

"I made it half way through the living room, and then stepped in something squishy. I bumped into something lying on the floor and tripped and fell on my face. I couldn't figure out why the floor was wet and I was trying to get up when I placed my hand on broken glass. I cried out, and I was scared for a moment that I was going to be in trouble for waking my parents, but I didn't hear a thing from upstairs. Not even their snoring; which I thought was odd, since my dad was an avid snorer. I made it to the kitchen and turned on the light, and saw that all the cupboards and pantry doors were open, and dishes and silverware were all over the place. I ran back into the living room, intent on running upstairs, but stopped dead in my tracks."

"Edward..."

Edward ignored her and continued. "My mom and dad were both lying on the floor, covered in blood. My mom's clothes were torn, and her throat had been slit, and I could see parts of my dad's intestines sticking out. But that wasn't the worst part... my eyes landed on my little sister, Jane. She was lying in front of the couch, with a phone cord wrapped around her neck. Her face was blue and her eyes were bleeding. I thought I was having a nightmare; nothing seemed real. I looked down at myself and realized why the floor was wet - I was covered in my family's blood..."

He quickly came back to the present and looked at Bella, who was covering her mouth with her hand, and tears were streaming down her face.

She cried for Edward; for the tragic and horrid way his family had died and for what he had to see. And most of all, she cried for the way Edward had told the story. He was completely emotionless, as if reading a grocery list out loud.

"I told you." he whispered. "You shouldn't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."

She began to sob, afraid of what other demons could be buried inside of him.

He looked back at the road and shook his head, infinitesimally. "_Please_, Bella." he swallowed a lump in his throat, and a single tear escaped his eye. "Please don't cry... not for me."

OoO

_"Mommy?" the little boy said, shaking his bloody, lifeless mother lying on the floor. "MOM!"_

Bella jolted awake, flying forward, only to be slammed back in her seat by the restraints of her seatbelt. She grabbed the back of her head, remembering that half her hair was still in a bun.

"You know, you talk in your sleep."

She glanced at Edward, who was looking at her with a smirk. She blushed slightly, wondering what she might have said, but then decided that she'd rather not know. She didn't remember dozing off, but figured she must have cried herself to sleep.

Edward saw that her crying had, again, caused her mascara to run down her face, only this time the streaks had dried. To him she looked like something out of an old, gothic picture. _Like art._He thought.

It was still dark outside and the clock now read five thirteen am.

"Um..." Bella started, squirming in her seat. "I have to pee."

Edward gave her a small smile. "There's a rest stop two miles ahead. You can also change if you'd like."

"Please."

A couple minutes later, they exited the highway, pulling into a rest stop. To Edward's delight, and Bella's bitterness, they were the only one's there.

Edward pulled into a parking space and turned the car off. He got out, stretched, put the keys in his pocket, and began whistling as he walked to the passenger side. He opened Bella's door and stepped behind it. She attempted to get out, but much to her annoyance, was finding it difficult.

Edward smiled and folded his arms, resting them on top of her open door. "Having trouble?"

"No." she huffed. "It always takes me three or four tries to get out of a car."

He walked around in front of her and extended his arm. "Would you like some help?"

She looked at his arm and thought about being stubborn, but relented. She sighed heavily and grabbed a hold of his arm, and he pulled her up with ease.

"Thanks." she grumbled and smoothed out her dress.

"Don't mention it." he replied cockily, with his crooked smile.

He grabbed her bag from the back seat, and instead of handing it to her, he began walking toward the bathrooms.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going with you."

"Uh, no you're not." she stated matter-of-factly.

He stopped, turned around, and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Some things are still private, you know."

He seemed to consider it for a moment, but thought better of it. "No, I don't think so. I'm going with you."

"Really, Edward?" she said, throwing her arms in the air. "Where am I gonna go? Have you ever seen the windows in a rest stop bathroom? They're really high up and extremely tiny. In the off chance I get my monstrosity of a dress off in record time, which I highly doubt, I would have to find a way up there and open the Fort Knox style window, and somehow manage to squeeze my way through the tiny opening. _I'm not going anywhere_, so please, for the love of God, let me go to the bathroom by myself!"

Edward stood still during her little tirade, not even blinking once. He sighed and handed her her bag. "Ten minutes."

"Look at this dress! It's going to take me ten minutes just to get it _off!_"

"Fine." he growled. "Fif. Teen. Minutes."

His eyes were hard, so she decided not to push it. "Fine." she retorted, and stalked off to the bathroom.

"I'm gonna be right outside the door!" he called after her.

OoO

By the time Bella had her dress off, she was panting. "Good God." she thought aloud, eyeing the dress, which now lay on the ground. "What was I thinking?" If Angela's friend had seen the dress lying on the bathroom floor of a rest stop, she would more than likely faint.

She was quick to use the bathroom and change into a pair of faded blue jeans, a white long sleeve blouse, and her white Adidas. _At least he packed my favorite pair of shoes._She thought. She quickly washed her hands and her face, grabbed one of the few brown paper towels left in the dispenser, and dried herself off.

She threw her towel away in the trash and leaned down to grab her bag, when something shiny caught her eye under the row of sinks. She walked over, bent down to inspect further, and noticed it was a tube of lipstick. She grabbed it and opened it, and saw it was nearly brand new.

Bella wasn't sure how long she had been in there, but she was sure it was less than fifteen minutes. Acting quickly, she turned to the wall and began writing.

_My name is Bella Swan and I have been kidnapped by Edward Masen. Please contact Chief Charlie Swan in Forks, at 360-555-1212. We are in a silver Volvo._

She thought about holding on to the lipstick, but threw it away out of fear of Edward finding it. She made sure there was no traces of lipstick on her hands, grabbed her bag and her dress, and walked outside, to where the sun had begun to rise.

Just as promised, Edward was waiting right by the door. He had taken off his cloak and it was draped over his arm. He wore a simple black, snug fitting shirt.

He looked at his watch and smiled. "Right on time."

"I told you I wasn't going anywhere... Don't you have to pee?"

"I already did." he pointed to a large wet spot on the side of the wall.

"How very redneck of you."

"Shall we?" he held his arm out, gesturing her to walk ahead of him.

They got in the car and pull back out onto the highway. "Here." Edward held out a hairbrush for Bella. "As beautiful as you look, I'm sure it has to be uncomfortable."

She graciously took the brush. "Thanks." she mumbled, and went to work on her hair.

She was silent for a few minutes while she brushed through her mane. "What happened to you?"

Edward, slightly, squirmed in his seat. "What do you mean?"

"After you... pulled me out of the car. I mean - it was you who pulled me out, wasn't it?"

"Oh." he sighed. "Yes, I did. I... ran, literally, to the next town."

"That's it...?"

"What else do you want to know, B-Bella? Aww, have you missed me, and wondered what I've been up to?" he smirked.

"No." she answered quickly and looked out her window. "I guess..." she sighed. "I guess, I was just hoping that you may have changed, Edward. Sought professional help, perhaps."

"Who says I haven't?"

Bella gave him an incredulous look and raised her eyebrow.

He could clearly see the disbelief on her face. "I have no reason to lie to you, B-Bella."

"Well," she huffed. "they obviously need to have their medical license taken away."

"It's a moot point." he shrugged. "It didn't really work out, so there's no need to worry about him anymore." he winked.

She felt her blood run cold and stilled her brush mid-stroke.

Edward glanced at her and one corner of his mouth turned up. "Remember... don't ask questions, unless you _really_want to know."

Bella closed her eyes and shook her head, and put her hair in a ponytail. _Please God_she thought. _Let somebody find my note._

OoO

It was a beautiful early morning on the coast of Washington, which found a nice couple and their two small children on a vacationing road trip.

"Mommy." One of the two girls had said. "I have to go the bathroom."

"Me too!"

"Alright." their mother said, smiling. "We're coming up to a rest stop and we can go there."

"But I have to go _now!_"

"Me too!"

"Next year," their father said. "we're flying."

...

"Make sure you wipe." the mother said to the two girls, as she washed her hands.

The girls both flushed at the same time, walked out of their stalls, and washed their hands; the younger one, needing assistance from her mother.

"Look mommy!" one girl said, pointing a wet finger to the wall. "Somebody wrote big red letters on the wall!"

Her mother gave a cursory glance, knowing that lots of people write on these walls, but quickly did a double take.

"Take your sister to the car. Daddy is there." She said to her older daughter.

"But mommy, I haven't dried my hands."

"It's okay sweetie, air dry is more sanitary. Now go on."

The girl took her sister's hand and led her outside.

The woman fumbled with her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She looked up at the wall, dialed the number, hit 'send', and held the phone to her ear.

"_Forks Police Department._"

"Chief Charlie Swan, please!"

OoO

Bella tried very hard not to cry, thinking about how worried her family must be; especially her dad. The last couple of months, Charlie had been thinking about retiring, and when this was all over, she was sure he just might finally decide to do it.

Bella ate her toasted peanut butter cracker, and silently stared out the window. Occasionally, she would glance at Edward and she noticed that he looked peaceful.

She wadded up her empty wrapper and stuffed in the side of the console. "Why are you doing this Edward?"

Edward looked away from the road and stared at Bella. After a few moments, he wordlessly turned his attention back to driving. "I didn't get a chance to take you there."

Bella swallowed the lump in her throat and began playing with the ends of her sleeves. "Take me where?" she whispered.

Edward continued to stare ahead, so she couldn't see the left side of his mouth turn up. "You'll see."

She nodded, her eyes becoming moist. "You'll see..." she echoed.

He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the wheel. "_Yes._ You. Will. See."

Bella flinched at his tone and wiped newly formed tears from her eyes.

Edward glanced at her briefly, slammed his hand on the wheel. "Goddamnit, stop crying!"

A sob shook in her chest and her nose began to run. "Clearly you know nothing about human nature, because that's not how you get someone to stop _cryiiing._" she wailed and began to cry, uncontrollably.

He grabbed the wheel and came to a violent stop on the side of the highway. Bella began to panic, remembering what had happened the last time.

Edward grabbed his hair in frustration and punched the wheel several times. "FUCK! - FUCK! - _FUUUCK!_"

Bella cried out, covering her head with her arms, and pulling her knees up to her chest.

She stayed curled in a ball, cowering as close to the door as she could get, and Edward sat with his hands gripping the wheel, his knuckles turning white, breathing heavily through his nose.

After a couple of minutes, his breathing slowed to long, deep breaths. He turned to Bella and what he saw made his ineffectual heart break. She was hovered in fear, as far away from him as she could get in the small space, and she was undoubtedly sobbing.

He gingerly reached a hand out and, softly, placed it on her arm. She reacted instantly, yanking her arm away, trying to recoil further.

"I -" he started. "I'm sorry."

Bella's back stiffened, momentarily, and she tried to control her crying. She sniffed, slowly lifting her head, and dried her eyes with her sleeves. "What?" she whispered.

He sighed and slowly blinked his tired eyes. "I shouldn't have done that, I'm sor -" Edward cut himself off midsentence, when he saw the unmistakable blaring red and blue lights. There wasn't just one police car, there were five. "FUCK!" he shouted, put the car in gear, and peeled away, leaving behind a cloud of dirt.

"No!" he grabbed his hair in a frenzy, shaking his head back and forth. "No. No. No. I have to show you. You have to see!"

Bella was too panicked to cry any more, and all she could do was hold on for dear life and pray that they didn't crash. She was too afraid to look at the speedometer.

As fast as the Volvo was, it was no match for the police cruisers. They had blocked him in, trying to force him to slow down.

But Edward had no plans to slow down.

He pushed the accelerator as far as it would go, and hit the car directly in front of them. The officer driving, however, was obviously trained in this area, and quickly recovered his cruiser.

Edward growled and Bella continued to stare, almost catatonic.

"You have to see. _You have to see!_"

Bella blinked rapidly a few times and shook her head out of her daze. She looked at Edward, who continued his mantra in a near panicked state, and decided that she had nothing else to lose.

She placed a hand gently on his thigh and he, instantly, snapped out of his fog. "Edward, please."

He looked at the hand on his thigh and looked up at her. They locked eyes for a moment, and Bella pleaded with her eyes as much as she could. Edward slowly lifted his foot off the pedal, as they continued to look at one another.

"_Bella._"

A tear again streamed down her face and her bottom lip began to tremble.

They were suddenly hit from the driver's side, which instantly brought both of them back to the present. They were jerked to the right, and Edward grabbed the wheel, to keep from spinning, but they were hit again from behind.

He was unable to control the car and they were hit again from the left. They had them surrounded, and when the cruiser in front slowed down considerably, Edward was forced to hit his breaks, but still collided with the car, coming to an abrupt stop.

The police officers wasted no time as they yanked Edward's door open and, forcefully, pulled him from the car, pinning him to the ground.

"NO!" he shouted. "SHE DIDN'T GET TO SEE!"

An officer opened Bella's door, helped her out, making sure she was okay. "I'm fine." was all she was able to say.

She watched in horror as Edward struggled with the officers, three of them holding him down. "BELLA! You have to see!"

They finally got the handcuffs on him and he was pulled to his feet. Bella covered her mouth at the sight of Edward, his body and face covered in dirt, blood dripping from his nose.

"Bella!" he looked at her with wide, imploring eyes. "Bella, please! Don't let them take me away! _Please_, Bella! You didn't get to see!"

"Oh God." she whispered, as she watched the scene unfold. It pained her, to no end, to see him like this. "Oh _God_." she said again, her voice breaking at the end.

"Bella!" his voice became more panicked as he was placed in the back of one of the cruisers. "Bella, _PLEASE!_Don't let them do this! It was all for you! I was gonna do it for _you!_ Please, Bella? _BELLA!_" His door was slammed shut by a disgusted officer, but Edward shouted one more time, as loud as he could. "_ISABELLA!_" his voice slowly faded, as he was driven away.

Bella dropped to her knees and began crying hard and violently. She struggled to breathe between sobs, making loud gasping sounds. She fell forward, till she was on all fours, dirt caking under her fingernails. She sat back on her feet and watched as tears and snot fell to the gravel, grazing her knee.

OoO

Three months later...

As Bella drove quietly in her car, she thought about her family. She thought about her dad, and her good natured mother, Renee. She thought about her sister and brother-in-law, and her niece. She smiled when she thought of them, but it quickly turned to a frown when she remembered how worried they had been about her. They shouldn't have had to worry.

An all-out panic was more like it. And with good reason. When the officers had taken Bella back to the Toledo Police Department in Washington, which is where they had been picked up, Bella was relieved to see not only her father waiting for her, but her mother as well. They had had a heartfelt reunion, at the end of which, Charlie announced that he was, in fact, retiring.

Bella stepped out of her car, took a deep sigh, and smoothed out her hair. She closed her door, armed her car with her remote, and walked towards the entrance of the King County Correctional Facility.

This day had come about with the utmost difficulty. Besides not looking forward to her visit in the slightest, getting Charlie to relent had been next to impossible. Her name had to be put on the visitor's list by the inmate and she knew that it would have been futile to try attempt that approach, so she requested her father's help - for two months. Charlie had a friend who worked as a guard at the prison and he was able to pull some strings. Getting Charlie to agree, however, was a challenge. But Bella was stubborn and she refused to give up.

_"Please dad!"_she had said, recalling her winning argument last week. _"I need this."_

_"No you don't Bella. I'll be damned if I'm going to let my baby go anywhere near that goddamn psychopath ever again!"_

_"Dad." she sighed "Don't you think that if he was going to hurt me, he would have done it already?"_

_Charlie gave his daughter a stern look. "Isabella... it's not just your physical well-being that I'm worried about. You've been through an enormous ordeal and I don't see how going to see that man will benefit you in the slightest. He's a very disturbed individual."_

_"I know it's difficult for you to understand dad, but_please._I need closure and this is my way of getting it."_

_"I don't know, Bella..."_

_"Dad, please, make the call..."_

Bella cleared her throat and stepped through the door of the prison. She placed her purse on the security conveyer belt and walked through the detector. The female guard scanning her body with a wand and checking her pockets and shoes.

She stepped up to the glass counter and spoke to the man behind the window. "Isabella Swan here to see Edward Masen."

Bella was taken to a small room down a long hall, where she was told to sit in a chair facing a long table with another chair directly across from her. Attached to the table, in front of the empty chair, was a steel ring with a chained open handcuff on the end. The guard told her to wait there and walked outside the windowed door, and stood directly in front of it. She sat there, waiting anxiously.

It was another twenty minutes before the other door in the room opene and a guard stepped inside. Directly behind him was Edward with another guard following.

Her heart started beating faster as soon as he stepped inside. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit, had shackles on the ankles, and his hands were cuffed in front of him. The first guard helped him sit down and attached the table handcuff to the center of the one on Edward's wrists.

He hadn't looked at Bella, or acknowledged her presence at all.

She wasn't surprised in the least.

The guard got him situated, stood up straight, and cleared his throat. "We'll be right outside. No physical contact with the prisoner or your visit will be terminated."

Bella nodded, and both the guards stepped outside.

Edward glared at the wall behind her and clenched his teeth.

Bella shifted in her seat and, nervously, cleared her throat. "So um... how are you?"

He, slowly, slid his eyes to meet hers and cocked his head to the side. "_Really?_ That's your opening line? You've been waiting for this day for twenty years and _that's_what you come up with?"

Bella sighed with annoyance and looked down at the table. She shook her head and turned back to Edward. "I haven't been looking forward to this day. Would you believe me if I told you that I never wanted to see you behind bars?"

Edward ran his tongue over his back teeth a few times before speaking. "Why did you come here?"

She sighed, exhaling slowly. "To put you behind me, once and for all."

"Do you think you can do that?"

"I'm going to try."

"I hear that you're in the IMPACT program." The IMPACT program was a psychiatric clinic provided by the King County Department of Justice.

Edward nodded. "Are you surprised?'

"No."

Edward gave her his famous crooked smile.

"Were you really going to do it, Edward?"

Edward sat still as stone, his eyes boring into hers.

"Were you really going to Queen of the Valley hospital, in Napa, California?"

"... Yes."

Bella shook her head and looked at the table. "The C4 in the trunk. The blueprints of the hospital...you were going to blow it up, weren't you?"

Edward remained silent.

"Why, Edward?"

"It's where I was born. I shouldn't have been allowed to be here."

"Blowing up a hospital and killing hundreds of people, including _children_, isn't going to erase anything. You would still be here."

"No... I wouldn't."

Bella gasped, as realization hit her. He wasn't just going to kills hundreds of people, but he was including himself. She had a feeling he was going to include her, but she would rather not know.

"I'm sorry, for... everything."

"I think that, I could forgive you. I can only image the kind of fucked up life you've had." Edward raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear her swear. Not that he minded. "To see what you've... had to see. The awful things that happened to you."

"I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity. I'm just trying to be able to understand. I think, in your own messed up way, you were just trying to reach out to somebody. And that somebody was me, probably because I reached out to you first. I don't know..."

"I already have a shrink, doctor."

"Like I said; I'm just trying to understand."

Edward smiled and made a mental note of Bella's features; her expressive brown eyes, her small cute nose, her full, dark pink lips. _A beautiful angel._

"Do you think...in a different time, under different circumstances, that we...could have been...?"

"Together?"

All he could do was nod.

"Well... I'll admit that, when you're not being... _Edward_, you are quite charming."

He smirked and opened his mouth, but Bella interrupted him.

"Edward...even if you do get well, I would not ever be able to be with you. Not after that. The only thing I would see… would be you stabbing that man and that disturbing display when the officers took you away. You were on your way to blow up a hospital, Edward. A _hospital_..." she trailed off, staring at him, her eyes filled with sadness.

Edward's eyes brim with tears and he nodded, clearing his throat.

"I hope you get the help you need, Edward. I really do."

And with that, she stood up, grabbed her purse, and knocked on the door.

"Bella."

Bella looked at the ceiling and tears rolled down her cheeks.

She tentatively turned around and looked at Edward again. This man. This man, who's occupied her every thought for more than half her life. This charged electricity that was flowing through them, and they both felt it, but they both knew that it was wasted energy. Bella stared at him, one last time, and she knew this was her way of letting him go.

The door opened behind her and she turned to leave.

"Can you promise me something, Bella?"

She stood quietly, silently communicating that she couldn't.

"Will you...will you come back and see me?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and while she would have liked to be able to make that promise, she said the next best thing she could.

"Goodbye, Edward."

The End

**Just a note - I don't really know how the visitation process works at a prison, so I just did the best I could. If I got it wrong, or upset anybody, I apologize.**

**And if you want to see a pic of Bella's dress, and Emmett's mask, the links (flickr) are on my profile.**

**Alright, people feel free to tell me what you thought. I honestly haden't thought of writing a second chapter, but the majority of you requested it. So... I hope I didn't disappoint... (But I wouldn't be surprised if I did.)**

**And before you ask, no, I will not be continuing this story any further. It ended where I wanted it to, and if I try to go on, I will fuck it up. I know I will.**

**Again, thank you for taking the time to read!**

**Ruby**


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